4 notable recent former Pirates who usually struggled in spring training

1. Jared Hughes

Jared Hughes was an unsung hero of the Pirates’ bullpens of the 2010s. He was overshadowed by the likes of Jason Grilli, Tony Watson, and Mark Melancon, but he was reliable for a handful of seasons. He appeared in at least 60 games four times from 2011 through 2016. While he wasn’t typically their go-to high-leverage guy, he could handle himself in whatever situation the Bucs put him in.

Hughes ended his time with the Pirates with a 2.82 ERA, 4.09 FIP, and 1.28 WHIP across 309 innings. He was never a big strikeout pitcher and punched out just 14.5% of his opponents, but he had a solid 7.8% walk rate and induced a ton of ground balls. Hughes had a huge 61% ground ball rate with the Pirates, and only seven relievers had a 60%+ GB% in 200+ IP throughout these same six seasons.

On the flip side, he’s one of the Pirates’ worst spring training relievers in recent history. In 52.2 innings, he has a 6.84 ERA, 4.81 FIP, and 1.75 WHIP. He still wrapped with a solid 6.9% walk rate and a sub-20% strikeout percentage (17.3%), but was a lot more prone to home runs, with a 1.20 HR/9 during warmups. Batters hit .328 off of Hughes during spring training as well. Hughes has the fifth-worst ERA by a Pirates reliever in spring training with at least 15 innings pitched.

Hughes pitched better in spring training from 2017 through 2020, his final seasons in the big leagues, but they didn't come with the Pirates. Even that improvement was marginal; the right-hander still pitched extremely poorly, with a 5.81 ERA, 4.81 FIP, and 1.45 WHIP. He saw a dip in HR/9 to 0.87, but still didn’t strike out many batters (14.5%) and wrapped with a slightly higher walk rate (7.7%).